Xylophonelike sound producing unit

ABSTRACT

A sound producing unit comprises a plurality of resonator members of equal size arranged in a row to form an xylophonelike musical instrument. Each resonator member has a contact opening and over the contact opening of each resonator there is positioned a sound bar of a size chosen to produce a distinctive note or tone. The construction includes an additional opening defined in each resonator member to provide for variations of tonal quality and character and it permits the construction of the resonators so that they are all of equal size.

United States Patent Inventor Leendert Hendrik Kuijpers illlversum,Netherlands Appl. No. 844,786

Filed July 25, 1969 Patented July 27, 1971 XYLOPHONELIKE SOUND PRODUCINGUNIT 1 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 84/403, 84/410 1m. c|...; 010 l3/ 08 Field of Search 84/402, 403,4 l 0 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,234,140 7/ l 9 l 7 Deagan84/403 2,020,150 ll/l935 Ludwig 3,443,469 5/1969 Hiraoka PrimaryExaminer-Richard B Wilkinson Assistant Examiner-John F. GomalesAttorney-McGlew and Toren ABSTRACT: A sound producing unit comprises aplurality of resonator members of equal size arranged in a row to forman xylophonelike musical instrument. Each resonator member has a contactopening and overthe contact opening of each resonator there ispositioned a sound bar of a size chosen to produce a distinctive note ortone. The construction includes an additional opening defined in eachresonator member to provide for variations of tonal quality andcharacter and it permits the construction of the resonators so that theyare all of equal size.

PATENTEU JUL27 an I lNVEN/OR leena'erfl-lenar/k MIL/PR5 ATTORNEYSXYLOPHONELIKE SOUND PRODUCING UNIT SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates in general to a construction of musical instrumentsand in particular to a new and useful xylophonelike sound producing unitwhich includes a plurality of resonator members of substantially thesame size wherein a different tonal or note quality is effected by theprovision of a distant tonal opening in each resonator.

So-called sound bars or sound boards are known and consist essentiallyof two elements namely on the one hand the resonator part and on theother hand the sound bar. The energy connection between the resonatorpart and sound bar is effected via a contact opening provided in thewall of the resonator.

It is known to provide an instrument with sound bars which are made ofsubstantially the same length as the resonator and to combine a seriesof such sound bars and resonators of distinctive tonal quality into amusical instrument of a xylophonelike character. The individualresonator parts have different lengths and a disadvantage in theconstruction of a xylophone using a different length resonators is thatit is difficult to fix all of the parts together and each part must beseparately manufactured individually.

The invention is based on the problem of providing a sound bar which canbe combined in the simplest manner in conjunction with other sound barsinto a series so that the manufacturing costs for such an instrumentarelow.

This object on which the invention is based is attained in that theresonators of a series of sound bars forming a musical unit have atleast the same length and are provided outside-the area of the soundplate in their walls with tuning openings.

According to the invention, each resonator is provided witha tuningopening inaddition to the contact opening which is made of a sizeselected in accordance with the type of sound bar employed to achieve acertain tonal or note quality. For example, the front of the resonatorbox may be left completely open or an upper closure surface outside thesound plate range may also be leftopen.

By this measure according to the invention the resonator boxes may bemass-produced in one or also in a small number of different types andthereby may also be stored. As desired combinations of these boxes maybe combined in standard lengths to form a musical instrument or amusical unit. Hereby the quality as well as the price can be improved.

The construction of the resonator boxes with'separate and distinct tonalopenings but all of the same structural size facilitates theirmanufacture and also their assembly into a complete unit.

According to the invention it is furthermore arranged for the so calledcontact opening under the sound plate to be drawn up outwardcrater-shaped whereby an intensifying of the energy transmission isattained.

According to the invention several contact openings may be providedbelow the sound plate as well as also several tuning openings may beprovided.

Further advantages and features of the apparatus according to theinvention follow from the following description with reference to thedrawings. The drawings show in:

FIG. I is a perspective view of a plurality of different resonatorassemblies;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a resonator assembly accord ing to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of another embodiment of sound producingunits.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on a larger scale of a resonator assemblyaccording to the invention.

In FIG. 1 different resonator assemblies are indicated with thereferences 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 which are designed differently in order tomake clear the various possibilities of the invention whereby suchdifferently designed assemblies may be combined into a series or a unitwhereby it is however also possible to combine rods designed alike.

Each resonator assembly comprises resonator 6 and a sound plate or soundbar 7 whereby the sound plate 7 are fixed on the resonator freely inso'called supports Sand 9 which are mounted in the nodal lines of thesound. plate. Below each sound plate 7 there is located a so-calledcontact opening 10 which serves for the transmission of energy betweenthe sound plate and the tone chamber or interior of the resonator. V

The so-called tuning openings may be provided in different design. Withthe resonator assembly designated with the reference 1 the tuningopenings 11 and 12 are formed at each end of the upper side of the topwall of the resonator 6. From the illustration of the resonator assemblyI however it can be clearly seen that in the area of the sound plate 7the top is kept solid.

The resonator assembly 2 has tuning openings disposed in the sidewalls,the tuning opening 13 being visible in FIG. I

The resonator assembly 3 has a tuning opening which is produced suchthat the two end walls of the resonator are cut away or are not built inat all so that if results in the tuning opening I4 which is visible butthe tuning opening provided on the opposite side is not visible in FIG.1.

The resonator tuning assembly 5 has tuning opening defined as a simplebore 15. It should be appreciated that in some instances several suehbores may be provided in the sidewalls. With very long tuning openings13 these may be interrupted in the middle so that two tuning openingsare provided.

In the same way several contact openings 10 are provided if thestability of the resonator box allows this.

In FIG. 1 it can furthermore be seen that the individual assemblies 2and 4 are provided with spacing ribs 16 and 17 which ensure the accessspace for the tuning openings when the assemblies are positioned in acontainer (not shown).

From FIG. 2 it can be seen that the resonators boxes may be formed asround drums whereby in the embodiment illustrated a longitudinal tuningopening 18 is provided in the sidewall. In the same way however also, asin the assembly I, the tuning openings may be obtained by cutting away apart of the top.

In FIG. 3 a resonator assembly is shown in which an asymmetricalconstruction is realized in that the actual sound plate 7a, is notdisposed in the middle. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 the procedureis furthermore such that the end wall part 19 lying nearest the soundplate 7a is solid whilst the end wall which is furthest away is cutaway'so that in this area the resonator is formed open. In FIG. 3likewise again the tuning opening 20 can be seen.

In FIG. 4 a resonator assembly is shown on an enlarged scale in whichagain the sound plate 717 can be seen and the tuning opening 21. Thecontact opening 10a is thereby so designed that the edge of this contactopening which is indicated with the reference 22 in FIG. 4 is drawn upcratershaped. Hereby an intensifying of the energy transmission betweenthe sound plate and the resonator is obtained.

The necessary holding means for the combining of the different soundbars with the resonators and the devices required for the fixing of thesound bars on the holding means are not shown in particularity in thedrawings butthey generally cornprise the supports 9 which resilientlysupport each bar.

From the drawing and the foregoing description it can be seen that theindividual resonators have substantially the same length and also thesame width so that a mass production of these resonator boxes ispossible independently of what musical pitch is attempted. The musicalpitch of the resonator is then attained by means of the construction ofthe correspond ing sound plate and the application of the tuningopenings designed differently in adaptation to the sound plate wherebythe tuning openings can be made subsequently without difficulties and infact at easily accessible places of the resonator box so that a reliableand efi'ective turning of the musical instrument is possible.

The invention is of course not limited to the embodiments illustratedand described, on the contrary modifications are possible withoutdeparting from the basic ideas of the invention. a

What I claim is:

l. A xylophonelike sound producing unit, comprising a plurality ofhollow resonator members, the interior of each of said members defininga tone chamber, said tone chambers being of substantially the same size,each resonator member including a contact opening in communication withthe tone l, wherein said contact openings are of crater shape.

4. A xylophonelike sound producing unit, according to claim 1, whereinthere are a plurality of contact openings arranged beneath at least someof said sound bars of some of said resonator members.

5. A xylophonelike sound producing unit, according to claim 1, includingholding means supporting a row of said resonator members.

6. A xylophonelike sound producing unit, according to claim 5, includingspacing ribs disposed between each of said resonator members.

7. A xylophonelike sound producing unit, according to claim 1, includingrib spacing means on said resonator for holding said resonator at aspaced location to a surrounding container for maintaining access spacein respect to said tuning opening.

1. A xylophonelike sound producing unit, comprising a plurality ofhollow resonator members, the interior of each of said members defininga tone chamber, said tone chambers being of substantially the same size,each resonator member including a contact opening in communication withthe tone chamber, a sound bar of distinct size for each resonator memberselected to produce an appropriate distinctive tone, means resilientlysupporting each sound bar over its respective contact opening of eachsaid resonator member, and at least one tuning opening defined in saidresonator member and in communication with said tone chamber forcooperation with the distinct sound bar for providing selective high andlow notes.
 2. A xylophonelike sound producing unit, according to claim1, including at least one additional tuning opening in said resonator.3. A xlophonelike sound producing unit, according to claim 1, whereinsaid contact openings are of crater shape.
 4. A xylophonelike soundproducing unit, according to claim 1, wherein there are a plurality ofcontact openings arranged beneath at least some of said sound bars ofsome of said resonator members.
 5. A xylophonelike sound producing unit,according to claim 1, including holding means supporting a row of saidresonator members.
 6. A xylophonelike sound producing unit, according toclaim 5, including spacing ribs disposed between each of said resonatormembers.
 7. A xylophonelike sound producing unit, according to claim 1,including rib spacing means on said resonator for holding said resonatorat a spaced location to a surrounding container for maintaining accessspace in respect to said tuning opening.